On Sunday, Auburn head football coach Gus Malzahn was fired and the media speculation began in earnest, and Liberty head coach Hugh Freeze was at the top of the list of those rumored to be in the running to be the next head coach of the SEC program. On Wednesday, Freeze met with the media to discuss his early signing period class of 2021, but he was also asked about the open job at Auburn.
“I was very clear when I was on ESPN GameDay, that Liberty has been so good to me and I love it here on the Mountain,” Freeze responded. “My family loves it here on the Mountain. It would take something really, really, really special for me to consider leaving here. I meant that and I meant it to this day. It’s going to take something that’s going to make my heart flutter with great excitement. To this point, to be very candid with you, and I’m not saying the other places that have come open, I don’t know if their heart flutters for me or not, it’s not for me to say, but to this point nothing has made my heart flutter more than staying on the Mountain and building this program. I’m thankful for that and I’ve been as transparent as I can be. When that day comes, the first people I will talk to will be my AD and our kids, but I’m fine with my heart being totally content here. I’m at peace and love what we’re doing here, love what we’re about, thankful that I’m wanted here right now.”
Malzahn had a record of 68-34 in his 8 seasons at Auburn, and he and Freeze have been friends for a long time. Freeze said when he first received word of his firing, he gave Gus a call.
“You never like to see people lose their jobs, ever,” said Freeze. “I’m not made that way to rejoice over anyone. When you’re in this business, you know how much hurt is involved in that for all involved. When you add to it, it’s one of your very dear friends, obviously it’s unsettling and you hurt. I’ve been through that and I know what it’s like to lose a job, it’s not much fun. My initial call was to Gus. I had a great conversation with him. He’s one of the best to do it now. He cares about his kids. He coaches it the right way. He’s the type of coach you want in this business. You want to make sure your friend is ok. He will be fine, but there are a lot of other families that are affected by it.”
Multiple national media services have mentioned Freeze as one of the front runners for the vacancy. In his two seasons at Liberty, Freeze is 17-6 and has the Flames on the verge of a second consecutive bowl invitation. Under Freeze, Liberty finished 9-1 this regular season including wins over Syracuse and Virginia Tech, the first ACC opponents the Flames have ever defeated. The strong season as Liberty currently sitting at No. 21 in the Coaches Top Poll and No. 22 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll.
“The reason that is being said is two-fold,” Freeze said about his name being mentioned. “I was fortunate to beat people like Nick Saban and Kirby Smart and Dan Mullen that are in that league with probably a lesser roster than what they had. Then, you come here and have success and all the people that put you into that here deserve so much of the credit, mostly our kids and our players. So, that’s a compliment and it’s humbling, but there are so many people that deserve credit for being mentioned. Some notoriety to Liberty but it also brings the negative side also.”
Part of that negative was with the timing of the job opening, just three days before National Signing Day. It made for some challenging conversations with recruits to secure their signatures as part of Liberty’s 2021 recruiting class.
“That’s never a good time for stuff like that,” Freeze continued. “That was an uncomfortable Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, those days right before signing day on what I think is our best signing class ever. That was kind of uncomfortable.”
Late last week, Liberty announced that Freeze had tested positive for COVID-19. He was able to return to the office on Tuesday and was able to finalize the early signing class with the rest of his staff after suffering through mild symptoms last week.
“What was probably harder on me than the COVID was this isolation,” he said. “I don’t like that. I don’t like staying inside period. My wife is a rule follower so she was really on me about staying in my room, my part of the house. i was fortunate. In hearing a lot of stories about people who had COVID, I was fortunate. I did not experience the fever or breathing issues. I did have two difficult nights of body aches, pains, and I lost taste and smell. Those two nights were all I really experienced. I will say, for months now, starting back in December probably, I have been flooding my body with Vitamin C and D and Zinc. I mean like 10,000 units of Vitamin C a day. I hope that’s part of it, I don’t know, but I’m going to keep doing it.”
